美国小学英语教材5:第267课 沙漠男孩——阿卜杜勒. 阿齐兹(10)

“Then came a great drought in the South. For three years not a drop of rain fell, and everything dried up. The desert wells were dry. There was no pasture for our animals. So we came north, searching for food. One day we camped in the fields outside Hammamet, and there we gave a festival in honor of a marriage in the tribe. Many people from the village came, among them your father. He saw me and spoke¹ to me—I have told you that I was free then—and from that moment he loved me. And I loved him.” Her voice grew gentle as the breeze in the olive leaves. “I loved him, too.

“后来南方发生了大旱灾。三年没下一滴雨，一切都干涸了。沙漠里的水井干涸了。我们的动物没有牧场。于是我们来到北方，寻找食物。有一天，我们在哈马麦特外的田野里露营，在那里我们举行了一个庆典，庆祝部落里的婚姻。村里来了许多人，其中有你父亲。他看见我，跟我说话——我告诉过你，我那时是自由的——从那一刻起，他就爱上了我。我爱他。”她的声音变得柔和起来，就像微风吹过橄榄叶。“我也爱他。”

“So we were married, and I came to live in the village. Your father shut me up as the village women are shut up. I am no longer free, but I am content. I would not leave him even for the stars and the desert. But sometimes I smother² a little in the house. So you can see, my little son, why I love the olive-picking, and why I am gay, here under the sky.”

“所以我们结婚了，我搬到村里来住。你父亲不让我出门，就像其他村子里的女性一样。我不再自由了，但我很满足。即使是星星和沙漠，我也不会离开他。但有时我在家里会有点闷。所以你可以看到，我的小儿子，为什么我喜欢摘橄榄，为什么我在天空下是快乐的。”

After this Abdul Aziz had something new to think of when he lay on his back in the sun. But he never spoke to his father about it.

之后，当阿卜杜勒·阿齐兹躺在阳光下时，他又有了新的想法。但是他从来没有和他的父亲说过这件事。

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 smother   

vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息

参考例句：

• They tried to smother the flames with a damp blanket.他们试图用一条湿毯子去灭火。
• We tried to smother our laughter.我们强忍住笑。